I had so many songs that I could have used but didn’t, such as the original version of Handy Man, done originally by Jimmy Jones, with James Taylor having the big hit. But I did have enough I decided to do a second disc of originals that became bigger hits later.
1. Hush by Billy Joe Royal.
A big hit (#4)for Deep Purple in 1968.
2. Wherever I Lay My Hat by Marvin Gaye.
I only knew the Paul Young (#70, 1983) version
3. I’m a Believer by Neil Diamond.
Neil provided lots of options: Solitary Man (Chris Isaac, Johnny Cash), Kentucky woman (Deep Purple), Red, Red wine (UB40). But I opted for the Monkees’ song (#1, 1966), who performed it first, before Neil (#51, 1971).
4. Mary Mary-the Monkees.
I recall the uproar in the musical purists who wondered why the pre-fab band band was doing a Butterfield Blues Band song. Then it was revealed that it was actually a Mike Nesmith song. The complaints went away.
5. Heaven Is In Your Mind by Traffic.
6. Eli’s Coming by Laura Nyro.
7. The Loner by Neil Young.
8. Lady Samantha by Elton John.
Now we’ve come to the Three Dog night portion of our disc. Brian Ibbott did a Three Dog Night Originalville back in February, but he didn’t use these songs, so I did. Laura Nyro wrote lots of songs you’ve heard of; unfortunately, she died at 49 of ovarian cancer. The 3DN version of Samantha was a friend’s favorite song; I’d never heard the EJ version until Mr. Hembeck turned me onto it.
9. You can Leave Your Hat On by Randy Newman.
I could have included a Randy Newman song, Mama Told Me Not To Come, as another 3DN tune, but since Brian had used it, I opted for the song that Joe Cocker covered.
10. War-The Temptations.
It was not unusual that multiple Motown artists would record the same song, but due to the nature of this song, this one was a bit complicated; see this Wikipedia link.
11. Strawberry Letter 23-Shuggie Otis.
When I came up with this concept, this was probably the first song that was definitely going to be included. Shuggie Otis is the son of Johnny Otis, who I wrote about earlier this year. Even Brian didn’t know about the original. The Brothers Johnson version went to #5 in 1977.
12, Giving Him Something He Can feel-Aretha Franklin.
The very last track on the QoS 4-CD box set, but, though it went to #28 in 1976, I was not familiar with it, and I didn’t really notice it until En Vogue had had a Top Six version in 1992.
13. Tell the Truth-Derek & the Dominoes.
This a total cheat. This is the original version done by the band, released as a single in 1970, but then withdrawn. The version that is on the Layla album is slower and bluesier; this version is more frenetic, and for me, favored.
I had stayed late at work last Friday night working on this on Roxio, but it practically made my computer explode. Seriously: Corrupted error report: Unfortunately, the error report you submitted is corrupted and cannot be analyzed. Corrupted error reports are rare. They can be caused by hardware or software problems, and they usually indicate a serious problem with your computer.
Then my old and good friend Uthaclena came up on Saturday, upgraded my computer, and installed Nero. Sunday, I was having the problem that the disc drive would hang up unless I closed in and out of Nero, which eventually corrected itself. Add to that the child thief. I mention all this as explanation/apology to those waiting. Since I finally got a groove going, I made 20 of each disc. Six are going to the other Mixed CD participants; seven are going to my work colleagues, some of which were helpful in creating the playlist; three to some helpful folks, such as Messrs. Hembeck and Uthaclena. One to my sister; oh, golly, one for ME. That leaves three for the first three people who ask.
ROG